No Fork bringing Balkan-inspired sandwiches and pizza to Avenue A

Photo and tip by Steven

No Fork, a quick-serve sandwich shop located in the Bronx's Little Italy, is opening an East Village outpost. 

The owners of the three-plus-year-old business — best friends Artir Hyseni and Veton Sinani from Kosovo — announced in recent weeks that they will open a second location at 131 Avenue A between St. Mark's Place and Ninth Street this fall.

The house specialty is the "Famous No Fork Sandwich," which features layers of prosciutto, melted mozzarella and house-made sauce.

 

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They also serve a variety of sandwiches, pizza and Balkan-inspired dishes. (As the name implies, no forks are allowed to eat these items). Find a menu here. 

Javier Zuñiga and Jesse Merchant Zuñiga, owners of the previous tenant, Bad Habit, closed their ice cream shop in July to move to the West Coast to start a family.

Bad Habit closing on Avenue A as owners will head west to start a family

Photo from January 2023 by Stacie Joy 

You have about three more weeks to partake in this Bad Habit. 

Javier Zuñiga and Jesse Merchant Zuñiga, the owners of the ice cream shop at 131 Avenue A between St. Mark's Place and Ninth Street, announced they are closing on July 14. 

Here's part of their farewell announcement: 

As many of you know, we founded Bad Habit out of our Brooklyn apartment towards the tail end of the pandemic. Freshly engaged, on the cusp of getting married, we formed this passion project having no idea where this crazy ice cream adventure would lead; we owe its success in large part to all of you, our loyal customers. Now we are on to a new adventure, welcoming a baby boy of our own on the West Coast, where we will continue churning, cooking and baking … this time just a little bit closer to the beach.

We hope you can join us before our last day of service on July 14 to stock up on pints, swing by for an ice cream sandwich, or just say hi. It has been our pleasure to host your engagement dinners, cater your weddings, and have you trust us for your little ones’ first taste of ice cream. 

Thank you for the adventure of a lifetime. 

The space, which also initially included Caleta, a 21-seat cafe that served beer, wine and small plates, opened in January 2023.

Bad Habit quickly gained a loyal following with concoctions that included olive oil, chocolate honeycomb, and dill & yuzu.

H/T Vinny & O!

Openings: Caleta and Bad Habit on Avenue A

Photos by Stacie Joy 

Bad Habit ice cream and Caleta opened at 131 Avenue A between St. Mark's Place and Ninth Street on Jan. 7. (Mentioned here and here.) 

As previously reported, real-life couple Javier Zuñiga and Jesse Merchant Zuñiga are behind the business launched during the pandemic when the restaurant vets starting making ice cream from their Brooklyn apartment — "initially they were just thinking of it as a hobby," per Eater...

But the fledgling ice cream brand took off — enough that Bad Habit is now headquartered in the front of the space, where, starting at 2 p.m., the containers (in three sizes and with flavors like olive oil, chocolate honeycomb and dill & yuzu) are available to stay or go...

Starting at 5 p.m., the back room — Caleta, a 21-seat cafe that serves beer, wine and small plates — opens for business. (No reservations; walk-ins only.) The front and back are open until midnight Thursday through Monday.

You can find the Caleta website (with menu) right here ... Instagram at this link.

Caleta will offer small plates and Bad Habit ice cream on Avenue A

After 18 months of making ice cream from their Bushwick apartment, real-life couple Jesse Merchant Zuñiga and Javier Zuñiga are opening their own storefront in the East Village, they announced in an Instagram post last week. (H/T Vinny & O!)

Caleta — with a tagline of "not a wine bar" — has an anticipated late-fall opening at 131 Avenue A between St. Mark's Place and Ninth Street. 

During the day, they will serve cartons of their Bad Habit ice cream (a business created during the pandemic). And by night, as Eater reported, Caleta "will offer a New American small plates menu to pair with wine, cartons of their ice cream, as well as desserts that use Bad Habit product like baked Alaska." 

The space was previously Thai Direct, which closed following a COVID-related rent dispute with the landlord, per the restaurant's ownership.